MAKING BUTTER. 



257 



that the straw of some will weigh less than the grain 

 which it produces, while the straw of other kinds will 

 weigh twice as much as the grain. 



Very little attention has yet been bestowed, in New 

 England, on this subject. We sow in haste, and we 

 reap in haste, without spending time to examine the 

 different varieties in the same field ; and no doubt a 

 dozen different kinds of wheat and of rye are often 

 sown together. 



In regard to potatoes, we have generally been so 

 careless that we are obliged very often to procure new 

 seed from those who have been more careful. It is 

 notorious that most people use only the refuse potatoes 

 for the seed of a new crop ! Can it, then, be matter 

 of surprise that our potatoes run out ? If we should 

 always save our poorest calves and pigs for breeders, 

 we should be obliged to send to Europe for cows as 

 often as we do to our neighbors for new kinds of potatoes. 



In regard to Indian corn we have been more cau- 

 tious. This has ever been a favorite grain in this 

 country, and more care has been taken to save good 

 seed. The consequence is, we have now the very 

 finest varieties of corn ; and we need only to be more 

 careful to select those grains for seed which are soonest 

 ripe in the field. 



But who goes into his wheat and his rye fields, his 

 barley, his oat, or his buckwheat field, and selects the 

 best heads in order to secure a prolific or an early va- 

 riety ? We hardly hear of such an instance ; but all 

 this must be done before we arrive at perfection in 

 farming, 



MAKING BUTTER. 



Many rules for making butter have been given to 

 the public, and some of them are good, if we could 



